NYSE Stocks with the Highest Short Interest as a % of Float

As we noted last week, short interest on the NYSE increased another 7% since the end of May.  Along with a chart of the shoot up in short interest since the S&P 500 hits its peak last year, we also provide a list of the 25 stocks on the NYSE with the highest short interest as a percentage of float. 

As shown, FirstFed Financial ((FED) -- nice ticker) currently has the highest short interest at 80% of float.  The stock is down 71% this year, so the shorts are clearly winning that battle. 

There are some stocks on the list where the shorts are losing, however.  PZN and TLB both have more than 50% of their float sold short, but they're up slightly on the year.  Big Lots (BIG) has 45% of its float sold short, but it is up more than 100% in 2008.  If they can't get BIG to go down, it looks like the shorts are going to die trying.

click to enlarge

Comments

[secmaven]

I thought the shorts were the pros in this game. Where are the financials that collapsed last week? The "experts" are all shorting the obvious, consumer discretionary companies that are an "automatic" loser in a recessionary climate. Talk about the herd instinct. It appears to equally prevalent among the pros as it is the sheeple.

[gudway]

Of more interest is the lower part of the list
This upper part just shows an established matured condition
Investors/risk takers are more interested in unstable conditions.
So show the bottom part of the list

[user80210]

What about Indymac Bank?

[Egg]

The first chart with the # of total shares shorted is a tad misleading since it does not account for stock splits, IPOs, secondary offerings, and takeovers. It needs to be laid out against a chart with the total # of shares outstanding to be accurate.